• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 23, 2009

Almost 4 in 10 smartphone users who don't have an iPhone would switch to the popular Apple device for their next purchase, while 4 out of 5 of current iPhone users would buy the phone again, according to a new study.

The report, by market research firm Crowd Science, also found that only 14% of non-BlackBerry users would switch to a BlackBerry device for their next mobile phone. The iPhone further outpaced other smartphones in customer satisfaction in areas such as screen size, navigation, ability to add new features and video playback quality.

The findings highlight the challenges the BlackBerry faces in "stemming the iPhone stampede," according to Crowd Science CEO John Martin, formerly a software developer at comScore and Cisco Systems. Indeed, Apple doubled its share of the worldwide smartphone market in the first quarter to 10.8% from 5.3% a year ago, according to Gartner.

But BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) also gained, increasing its share to almost 20% from 13.3% during the quarter. The manufacturer last week also reported a 33% increase in quarterly profit, adding 3.8 million new BlackBerry subscribers. The company noted that 80% of new customers came from consumers and small businesses rather than corporate users.

Apple raised the stakes on Friday with the launch of its upgraded iPhone 3G S, which the company Monday said sold more than 1 million units over the weekend. As RIM pushes more aggressively into the consumer market, Apple is conversely trying to grab more corporate subscribers from RIM, which has long dominated the enterprise market. Apple also made switching more enticing by lowering the price on the existing iPhone 3G to $99.

In a similar vein, a survey of first-time iPhone buyers in New York City and Minneapolis over the weekend found by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster found that 12% said they were switching from a BlackBerry compared to only 6% last year.

More crossover between the devices' user bases seems likely. The Crowd Science study found that 71% of smartphone subscribers use them for both personal and business purposes, with only 3% using them for business only.

The firm surveyed a randomly selected group of Internet users over the age of 14 between May 19 and June 8 through its open research network, a set of sites spanning a range of categories and reaching more than 20 million unique visitors.